Emporia city, Virginia: Black Belt county. In 2024, voted D+31%. Democratic peak: D+36 in 2020.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- D+31MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Black BeltAkashic typology
- Population
- 5,5472024 5-year
- Median household income
- $51,8992024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 19.6%2024 5-year
- Black
- 64.3%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 7.9%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+36 in 2020MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+32 in 1972MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Hinds County, MS · similarity 0.99
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Emporia cityPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Emporia city, with each precinct boundary colored by Democratic-vs-Republican margin.
—
Margin—
Turnout—
Harris +50Trump +50
Real precinct boundaries. Hover for vote totals.
presidential history
Presidential margin, 1876–2024
Democratic minus Republican, by election
| Year | Margin (D minus R) |
|---|---|
| 1876 | No data |
| 1880 | No data |
| 1884 | No data |
| 1888 | No data |
| 1892 | No data |
| 1896 | No data |
| 1900 | No data |
| 1904 | No data |
| 1908 | No data |
| 1912 | No data |
| 1916 | No data |
| 1920 | No data |
| 1924 | No data |
| 1928 | No data |
| 1932 | No data |
| 1936 | No data |
| 1940 | No data |
| 1944 | No data |
| 1948 | No data |
| 1952 | No data |
| 1956 | No data |
| 1960 | No data |
| 1964 | +28.3% |
| 1968 | −7.1% |
| 1972 | −32.1% |
| 1976 | −7.7% |
| 1980 | −7.0% |
| 1984 | −21.4% |
| 1988 | −13.7% |
| 1992 | −2.0% |
| 1996 | +13.0% |
| 2000 | +8.6% |
| 2004 | +12.5% |
| 2008 | +30.8% |
| 2012 | +33.6% |
| 2016 | +31.3% |
| 2020 | +36.0% |
| 2024 | +31.0% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D | 1,419 | 744 | 2,179 | ||
| D | 1,612 | 754 | 2,381 | ||
| D | 1,530 | 789 | 2,366 | ||
| D | 1,793 | 886 | 2,696 | ||
| D | 1,702 | 897 | 2,617 | ||
| D | 1,247 | 970 | 2,221 | ||
| D | 1,116 | 938 | 2,080 | ||
| D | 1,103 | 835 | 2,054 | ||
| R | 1,048 | 1,094 | 2,319 | ||
| R | 977 | 1,289 | 2,277 | ||
| R | 807 | 1,252 | 2,078 | ||
| R | 855 | 988 | 1,902 | ||
| R | 899 | 1,055 | 2,020 | ||
| R | 948 | 1,910 | 2,998 | ||
| R | 657 | 812 | 2,191 | ||
| D | 2,055 | 1,149 | 3,206 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
English
8.6%
American
3.6%
Irish
2.6%
German
1.9%
Italian
0.7%
French
0.7%
Scottish
0.5%
African American
51.4%
Multiple ancestry combinations reported; no single grouping above 1%.
Sample size too small to break out by ancestry reliably.
American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander combined.
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release. Hispanic/Latino is an ethnicity that overlaps the race categories, so these shares can total more than 100%. Ancestry is a self-reported, multiple-response item; ancestry percentages do not sum to the parent race percentage.
2024 ACS
Age distribution by sex
Median age: 36.6 in this county, 39.1 nationally
Male
Age
Female
85+
75–84
65–74
55–64
45–54
35–44
25–34
18–24
5–17
<5
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Median household income
Inflation-adjusted dollars
$51,899
Emporia city ranks in the bottom 25% of US counties.
Emporia city$51,899
Virginia$93,170
United States$80,734
Emporia city ranks in the bottom 25% of US counties by median household income.
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
15.8%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1816.4%
Working age (18–64)15.1%
Seniors (65+)20.5%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
93.9%
speak English only
Spanish5.1%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.6%
Other Indo-European0.3%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 18.1% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Emporia, an independent city of roughly 5,600 on the Meherrin River, has delivered Democratic presidential margins exceeding 30 points in recent cycles, reflecting the heavily Black electorate that makes up a majority of its population.
The Democratic margin here reached thirty-six points in 2020. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved five points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was thirty-one points. The recent movement, modest against a deep Democratic baseline, mirrors a broader rightward drift across the Black Belt.
The economic context is part of the story: a median household income of $51,899 and a 16% poverty rate. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Hinds County and Richmond County.
Most similar counties
Compare two places, side by side
Twelve curated comparisons line up election history, demographics, and the divergence story for two places at a glance. Browse all comparisons →
Cite this page
All citations released under CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Akashic Intelligence.
Emporia city, Virginia. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/51595/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More in Virginia
More black belt counties
Frequently asked questions
How did Emporia city, Virginia vote in 2024?
In 2024, Emporia city, Virginia voted Democratic by 31.0 points (D+31), carried by the Democratic candidate. Out of 2,179 votes cast, 1,419 went Democratic and 744 went Republican.
What is Emporia city, Virginia's political typology?
Akashic places Emporia city, Virginia in the "Black Belt" typology — Black-majority counties of the rural South — long the most Democratic ground in the region, now trending Republican at the margins. The typology is a data-driven cluster built from vote share, vote swing, race and ethnicity, income, language spoken at home, religion, and ancestry. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the county has voted Democratic 9 times, Republican 7 times, and other 0 times.
When did Emporia city, Virginia last vote Republican?
The most recent presidential election in which Emporia city, Virginia voted Republican was 1992.
How many people live in Emporia city, Virginia?
Emporia city, Virginia has a population of 5,547 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Emporia city, Virginia?
Median household income in Emporia city, Virginia is $51,899 — below the national median of $80,734. The Virginia state median is $93,170.
What is the political history of Emporia city, Virginia?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Emporia city, Virginia from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 9 went Democratic and 7 went Republican. The county's typology — "Black Belt" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.